Reform of the Intestate Succession Act, Final Report 78

The current scheme for intestate succession is patterned after legislation created in 1670. The report aims to reform the Intestate Succession Act in a manner more in line with the modern presumed intention of intestates, which has been gleaned through an examination of various studies. This report recommends that if an intestate died leaving a surviving spouse and issue, and all of the issue were of the surviving spouse, the entire estate should go to the surviving […]

June 29, 1999

Limited Liability Partnerships, Final Report 77

In Alberta, professionals conduct their trades through professional corporations, which do not entitle these professionals to the same types of limited liability protection enjoyed by shareholders in traditional business corporations. The issue this report considers is whether certain professions, which are currently required to practice in unlimited liability firms (such as accounting, legal, and health care), should be allowed to practice through limited liability firms. This report recommends that these professions, and all others, be […]

April 29, 1999

Powers & Procedures for Administrative Agencies: MODEL CODE, Consultation Memorandum 6

The final product that arises from this consultation will be a comprehensive Model Code of Powers and Procedures, and an accompanying Annotation that sets out important case law that supplements or clarifies the rules. The Code will clarify the powers that already exist under the common law, and provide for additional powers necessary to the efficient and effective functioning of agencies. The code will not be a rigid set of rules that apply to every […]

April 1, 1999

Should a Claim for the Loss of a Chance of Future Earnings Survive Death? Final Report 76

Section 2 of the Survival of Actions Act (SAA) provides that a “cause of action vested in a person survives for the benefit of his estate.” Section 5 of the SAA specifies that “only those damages that resulted in actual financial loss to the deceased or his estate are recoverable.” In Duncan Estate v Baddeley, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that the loss of a chance of future earnings was an actual financial loss. This report recommends the SAA be amended […]

December 29, 1998

Should a Claim for Punitive Damages Survive Death?, Consultation Memorandum 5

The purpose of this Consultation Memorandum is to invite comment as to whether or not a claim for punitive damages should survive the claimant’s death. This memorandum addresses the nature of punitive damages, present Alberta law and its history, reasons for and against allowing punitive damages, and whether reasons for non-survivability of damages for non-pecuniary losses in general apply to punitive damages. Comment is invited on several issues including: should the Survival of Actions Act be amended […]

December 1, 1998

Family Law v. 18.4–Child Guardianship, Custody and Access, Report for Discussion 18.4

As addressed in the other reports in this series, Alberta law relating to the care of children (at the time of this report’s publication) included a variety of statutory provisions that were out-dated, inconsistent, and/or had uncertain scope. For this reason, this report begins from a “clean slate” in trying to define (i) child guardianship, (ii) custody, and (iii) access, and to determine how these issues can be decided in order to protect the best […]

October 2, 1998

Family Law v. 18.3–Child Support, Report for Discussion 18.3

This report was written to address five concerns about child support law at the time of its publication, viz.: the inadequacy of child support awarded; inconsistency of award between similar families; inefficiency in assessment; inequality based on “legitimacy” of birth; and unaddressed complexities based on the inter-relation between spousal support, custody of children, and child support. This report expounds recommendations for a new approach to child support, which is meant to foster equality for all […]

Family Law v. 18.2–Spousal Support, Report for Discussion 18.2

At the time of publication, Alberta’s law relating to spousal support after a divorce was unique in Canada, in that it incorporated the “fault doctrine.” This doctrine holds that in order to obtain support, a spouse must prove that he or she is the “innocent party” in the divorce (i.e., not responsible for the marriage breakdown), and that the other spouse is culpable (i.e., responsible for the marriage breakdown). This report suggests the elimination of […]

Family Law v. 18.1–Overview, Report for Discussion 18.1

This report presents the criticisms of Family Law (as it stood at the time of publication) that led to the initiation of the Family Law project by the ALRI. Chief among these criticisms: much of Alberta family law is outdated; family Law is split up among several different pieces of legislation; different parts of Alberta family law are not consistent with each other; family law is controlled by numerous different bodies, with no central authority. […]

Limited Liability Partnerships and Other Hybrid Business Entities, Issues Paper 4

At the time of this paper’s publication, certain types of professionals (namely, accountants, lawyers, and certain health care professionals) were required to work in a setting of “unlimited liability,” meaning that the individual professionals could be held liable for debts and other liabilities incurred by the company for which they worked. This paper addresses the issue of that unlimited liability, and suggests that there was a “liability crisis” at the time, and therefore an urgent […]

March 4, 1998